Beijing: Plane tickets to Africa are in high demand, as Ma Bijun, the deputy general manager of Hunan Er-Kang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., prepares to launch a new pharmaceutical factory in Tanzania this year. A frequent traveler between China and Africa, Ma notes the increasing number of passengers on these routes, reflecting the deepening economic and commercial exchanges between the Chinese and African peoples.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the Guangzhou-Changsha-Nairobi route, launched in 2019 by China Southern Airlines, has transported over 227,000 passengers and now maintains three regular weekly flights. To accommodate the rising demand during peak travel seasons, the airline plans to open a direct Nairobi-Guangzhou route this summer, further broadening the scope of China-Africa economic and commercial cooperation.
In a testament to this vibrant interaction, Kenyan coffee beans can now reach Changsha, Hunan Province, within three days, marking a significant rise in African coffee imports to China by 70.4 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025. At the African Coffee Trade Center in Gaoqiao, the "Own Master" brand offers a variety of beverages made from African coffee beans, benefiting from direct connections with African producers via online platforms.
Beyond traditional sectors, new players are contributing to a "green wave" in China-Africa cooperation. With sustainable development gaining traction, China's exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products to Africa in 2023 saw substantial increases. Senegalese entrepreneur Tirera Sourakhata, who founded a ride-hailing company using new energy vehicles in Dakar, highlighted their popularity and potential environmental benefits.
Having lived in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, for over 20 years, Sourakhata has witnessed the flourishing China-Africa trade firsthand. His company, showcasing thousands of products, has seen annual exports to Africa grow significantly, with expectations for continued growth.
Chinese e-commerce models are also gaining ground in Africa, with platforms like Kilimall attracting wide audiences through livestreaming, transforming shopping experiences and creating job opportunities for locals. Since its launch in 2014, Kilimall has amassed over 10 million registered users and modeled its operations after Chinese e-commerce sites, contributing to job creation.
With increasing private-sector engagement, the overall trade volume between China and Africa is expanding. Data from the General Administration of Customs of China indicates a record-high trade volume with African countries in the first five months of this year, marking an increase of 12.4 percent year on year to 963.21 billion yuan (134 billion U.S. dollars).